The Edge of Magic
by MegabyteSparkletron
Summary: Twilight Sparkle received a new mission from Princess Celestia. It seems harmless enough, but Twilight realizes that it's one of the hardest projects that she's ever faced. Human AU, slightly EG. I got the idea from Tumblr kind of, but it's my own spin on things. This is my first fic, so comments are appreciated :D


"SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!" Twilight Sparkle yelled from the loft in the top of the library. Her best friend and 'loyal assistant' came running up the stairs with a just a hint of the same lanky and clumsy manner that he'd had as a child.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Spike exclaimed. Twilight was pacing the room that they'd shared until recently, staring angrily at a note that she had in her hand. It was the last note she'd gotten from Princess Celestia, which Spike assumed meant that they had another project to work on.

"It's this note from Princess Celestia. She says there's a book that I need to find and read. She says that she's kept it hidden by magic for centuries because of the danger surrounding it. She believes that I'm the only one able to overcome this 'danger'. But she didn't say anything other than that. Where am I supposed to start? How could I possibly find a book when I know absolutely nothing about it!?"

"Well, you know it's dangerous…"

"So _not_ helpful, Spike. It seems to me as though every new project that Celestia sends us is vaguer than the last."

"Well, that hasn't stopped you before. Twilight, you're a princess now. You have more responsibilities than you used to."

"I know my responsibilities very well, Spike. There's no need to lecture me."

"I wasn't—" Spike defended.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just have no idea where to start this search. If Celestia's the one who hid the book, can't she retrieve it for me? Or at least tell me where it is?" Twilight sat down on her bed and dropped her head onto her hands. "This is useless."

"Come on, Twilight. You know how Celestia is. She's more worried about the 'journey' than the 'destination'"

Twilight cracked a small smile. "I know." She shook her head to clear it once before standing up. Well, I guess we'd better start looking for that book, huh?"

Twilight's Ponyville friends visited the library the first day of the search. Books were strewn about the place in disorganized piles, and even more books were whizzing about, some because of Twilight's magic, others because of their own. The five girls had to constantly dodge the flying books and step around the haphazard piles on the floor. Finally, in the midst of the literary chaos, the friends found Twilight Sparkle. She was frazzled, and not trying to hide it. "It's not here," she repeated over and over. "But where could it be?"

Applejack turned to Spike, who was holding an umbrella to shield him from the occasional book and asked in dismay, "What's gotten into her?"

"A new project from Princess Celestia. She told Twilight to find a certain book. Twilight's going a little crazy searching for it." A particularly determined book chose that time to ram into the umbrella repeatedly before Spike began hitting it back with a grimace.

"…a little?" Rainbow Dash speculated. "I don't think she's been this crazy since the future Twilight incident." The five girls and Spike all shuddered simultaneously at the memory of their dear friend at her worst.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Fluttershy wondered. She shifted nervously from foot to foot, narrowly avoiding a book that zoomed past her arm.

Spike simply grimaced. "I've found it's easier just to stand back and keep clear. She's only got a few books left to look through. It should stop soon enough."

The friends jumped when Twilight squealed in frustration and all the levitating books dropped simultaneously. Twilight dropped to the ground and hid her face in her hands. Spike quickly closed the umbrella and walked over to his best friend to comfort her.

"Hey, Twi," Applejack began timidly. "Are you alright?"

Twilight whipped her head around, startled. The surprised look on her face faded and was replaced with resignation. "Hi, guys." She slowly stood up and looked around the disastrous library. "I'm sorry about all of this," gesturing to the chaos.

"It's alright, darling, but you should really sort your books better when you decide to tear through the library like this." Rarity tiptoed through the piles toward her friend with a compassionate yet somewhat disappointed look on her face. She hated mess, after all.

Pinkie Pie, however, bounced throughout— and sometimes on top of— the piles jubilantly, ignoring the mess altogether. "Well, we came by to see if you were still going to Vinyl's party with us because you never showed up at the rendezvous spot which if you forgot was gonna be at Rarity's place which is why we came here because we thought maybe you forgotten and you must have forgotten because you were throwing books around all over the place which you only do when you forget that you've got something to do…" when Pinkie finally inhaled, Dash slapped a hand over her mouth to discourage further commentary.

Twilight's face fell. "I'm so sorry girls! I got caught up in a new project Princess Celestia's assigned to me. She wants me to find this book, and—"

"We know", the friends chorused.

"Spike told us," Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight nodded. "I would love to go with you all, but I've got to clean this up. I can't just leave the books like this." The five girls and Spike sighed in disappointment, but Twilight just shrugged. "I'm sorry. You have fun without me tonight." She started to pick up the closest books while a few rose hesitantly from the ground and flew slowly towards the shelves. Spike began to help pick up the books as well, but Twilight stopped him. "Go have fun, Spike. I got myself in this mess and I'll get myself out of it." He looked at her for a moment, but she nodded her okay, and he smiled apologetically.

The six friends left reluctantly after Twilight promised that she would be fine on her own. When they were finally out of the door, she collapsed on a haphazardly placed pile of books. She seemed to be collapsing dramatically a lot lately. After a few minutes of miserable pity-partying, she took a deep breath and got back to work. While she was sitting, her magic had been working at sorting and replacing the books. She'd found that that happened sometimes ever since she became a princess. Her magic was growing even more than she thought possible. She made quick work with the books, but there were so many that she was still buried with work when her friends burst back in. "What are you guys doing?" Twilight wondered. "What about the party?"

"You're much more important than any party, Twilight," Pinkie Pie said. Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Any party?" Twilight said wryly. Pinkie was known for her famous partying habits.

"Well, it helps if we can bring the party to you!" And before Twilight knew what was happening, there was a party hat on her head, confetti raining down all over, and a kazoo in her mouth. When all the confetti settled, Pinky was still dancing wildly in the midst of the book stacks.

"Pinkie," Twilight called. Pinkie looked up from where she was twerking on Rarity, who looked as concerned as everyone else.

"What's up Twi? Don't you like the party?" She seemed kind of hurt, but Twilight gave her a smile and she relaxed.

"Of course I love the party. But I need to get the library in order before I have any more fun." She took the party hat off of her head and began putting the books back on the shelf as she had been when her friends burst in.

"Well, you heard what she said. Start putting the books on the shelves!" Applejack ordered to the other girls. Immediately, everyone sprang into action. In no time, the library was back to normal, and Pinkie had replaced everyone's party hats and started the music. The festivities began anew, but Twilight despaired. There wasn't even a clue to where the book was hidden in her library. Where could it be?

"It's hopeless," Twilight whispered.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's Imagine Dragons," Spike said next to her, grinning like an idiot. The other girls were dancing and laughing together, but Twilight couldn't bring herself to.

"This isn't funny, Spike! I can't fail Celestia now! I have to find this book!" She spoke so vehemently that everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her, and the music magically turned off. "I'm sorry everyone, but I can't have fun when this book is still hidden"

"Well, have you checked everywhere?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes," Twilight sighed. She paced back and forth in front of the newly ordered bookshelves.

"In the loft?" Pinkie asked. She began jumping around ecstatically, weaving throughout the people.

"Yes." Twilight replied.

"Under the bed?"

"Yes."

"On all the shelves."

"Yes, Pinkie. You saw me do that!"

"The library in Canterlot?"

"Yes." Twilight was getting more and more agitated by the second.

"Celestia's rooms in Canterlot?"  
"I asked. She said it wasn't there." The rest of the friends were watching Pinkie and Twilight's exchange with bemused expressions.

"That weird alternate universe where everyone is a pony?"

"Pinkie, what does that even mean?"

Pinkie stopped for a breath and shrugged. "Just a thought." Then she continued on the same track. Though Twilight had begun to tune her out.

"The creepy ruins in the depth of the Everfree Forest where we found the Elements of Harmony a few years ago?"

Twilight stopped pacing. The Everfree Forest! Of course! "Pinkie."

"Or what about Cloudsdale. No one ever checks up there. Because of the clouds, you know. Or maybe…"

"PINKIE!" The exuberant girl stopped hopping and looked at Twilight, confused.

"What?"

"You're a genius. That's what!" Twilight's friends all gathered around her, waiting to hear what she'd say. "The princess said that she hid it centuries ago. Centuries ago, she and Princess Luna lived at the castle in the Everfree Forest! This book _has_ to be there."

"What if…"

"Shut up, Spike. We're going to the Everfree Forest. Now who's with me?" She looked at the rest of the girls.

"Of course we're with you, Twilight," Dash said, acting offended. The four other girls nodded decisively.

"Sorry, Dash. Anyway, we should go right away tomorrow morning. Princess Celestia said that finding out about this book is of the utmost importance."


End file.
